Josè Rosenbaumasaur

Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves.
- Carl Sagan

Day 4: Wandered Fitzroy - down Brunswick st, over to Gertrude, then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with the delightful company of Craig and Karen (of Kremmen fame). Ate some tasty chinese food, and some amazingly delicious but blazingly hot curries at "Tandoori Times" (which I highly recommend. On 199 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, I believe. 190 maybe.). Cheapish too, and there are 25% off vouchers in the Entertainment book.)

Day 5: Wandered Fitzroy some more - fell in love with Smith St*, wandered around, back to Lygon, down into the west end of the CBD (a very boring place west of Elizabeth, I found out), and finished up at the "Chill On" bar near Russel and Lonsdale. It's a little bar where the bar, walls, tables, chairs and sculptures are all made of ice. Even the cups and shot glasses. Very awesome place. A jager shot at -10C is so delicious. Amazingly good. Even better than jager and redbull. Finally, dinner at Café Segovia down Block place.

* the bookshops, the 2nd hand curio stores, the cafés, the restaurants, the BDSM store, the random clothing & art shops, the little art galleries - it was like the best parts of eastern Northbridge.

Melbourne is quite lovely.

Quotes (out of context, of course):

Colin: Ten inches is big enough for me.
Me: ...

Some time later:

Colin: okay, I've got to go take a crap.
Me: alright, and I guess I'll go get some pliers and destroy my ring.


[for those wondering, the topics were netbooks and camera thread adapters]

Day 3: walked a LOT. From Flinders station, to the Police Museum, to the convention centre, through South Bank, to the Shrine of Rememberance, through the Royal Botanical Gardens, to the MCG (it's a LOT of walking!), caught a bus to Lygon St where I had a cake at Brunetti's wandered into a couple awesome book shops - and "Carlton Video Dogs" video shop (mostly rentals) - which while a tiny shop, had a selection to put Planet Video in its place (really), then a gelati at Gelatissimo - which was amazingly delicious, and the woman was /so/ nice and helpful. [Highly recommend: www.gelatissamo.com.au.] Then walked to Melbourne Central (was Diamaru) where I wandered into the local Games Workshop, then around level 2. Level 2... is another world of clothes. Level 2 has "Anton's" [Shop 224, Melb Central, or Shop 105, 77 Castlereagh St, Sydney]. Amazingly good clothes. The kind to put every single goth in Sin and everyone in Deville's to abject shame. Of course, all local made, short run stuff. Jackets at $650-$950, shirts at $130-$240, waistcoats at $220-$280. I now have a reason to raise my social class :-P ] After that, drinks at a pub on level 3 with a couple ex-Perth friends, then off to the Gin Palace for a round of =amazingly= good cocktails (at $18 each, they were, and I can say this - worth it), then wandering around lost for a while until I was finally led to E:55 on Elizabeth, a trendy, indy relaxing bar. Very nice little place, highly recommend, especially for happy hour ($10 jugs).

Only problem today - not enough food. Still, drank enough to compensate =-D

Melbourne... is quite lovely.

Day 1: Went to the Victoria Markets, wandered through Harbor Town/Docklands, had a delicious lunch at an italian restaurant on Lygon st*, followed by dinner at this little chinese place in china town - cheap and tasty.
* Café Cavallino

Day 2: Wandered Elizbeth st, Swanston st, little colins st area, flinders quarter, had lunch at Alice's Thai Restaurant (very tasty and cheap), more wanderings, and finished with dinner at Tsindos Greek restaurant (in the Greek quarter) - amazingly delicious, I highly recommend it.

I have been /so/ full, all the time here. Rained lightly a bit today, but otherwise has been quite pleasant - not cold, barely windy. So far, I recommend this town. [Some things are a bit much - like $35 entry to the aquarium? ick.] But I LOVE all the little alleyways and laneways, filled with curio shops, bars, cafés and similar.

Maybe its the weather. Maybe its something else, but I have bee sleeping SO much lately. Its quite lovely.

16 hours, 11 hours, 12 hours, 14 hours... (in 4-8 hour blocks) Its like a massive catch up, and I'm not complaining. If one could nom sleep, I would be doing so.

Life stuff: updated my cover letter slightly, applying to jobs, Centrelink is chugging along...
Going to Melb on Sat night, for no reason other than I can.
Going to Bali in Sept with others, we encourage you to join us :)

Words/phrases that need to be brought back:

Bombastic:
* Pompous or overly wordy; High-sounding but with little meaning; Inflated, overfilled
* ostentatiously lofty in style; "a man given to large talk"; "tumid political prose"
* bombastically - turgidly: in a turgid manner; "he lectured bombastically about his theories"
* bombastically - in a grandiose manner; "the building was bombastically spacious"

Old Bean:
* a classic British familiar form of address, roughly equivalent to an American’s greeting of “buddy,” “pal” “friend,” or, at least lately, “dude.”

and possibly, Card:
* wag: a witty amusing person who makes jokes
* (informal) An amusing but slightly foolish person.

UPDATE:
also, Discombobulate>:
* bewilder: cause to be confused emotionally
* confuse: be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly;
* To throw into a state of confusion; to befuddle or perplex

It's been bothering me for a little while now that I haven't been as open on my LJ as I would like to be. If you compare some of my earlier entries with my later, it's slowly become more and more a 'dump journal'. A place to either dump information (travels, parties) or occasionally vent.

One of the reasons I was recommended to start this, [and then did because of] was to get out some of the more personal stuff. To open up a bit of myself, to confront it. When I write, after I write, I am no longer thinking about whatever was bothering me. I can safely forget it, knowing it is recorded. Some of my earlier writings reflected this more personal reflection.

I don't like this growing feeling of a need to censor what I write - if I write it, I'll tend to stand by it. One of the reasons I've always kept this journal open and have been actively against locking it down. But...

But, well, I need to do something to pacify this growing disconcertedness. One option is to harden the fuck up. The other is to lock some entries. So, that's what I'm doing. Going the pussy route - and I'm okay with that. I know my limits.

Okay, not a rant this time. This time, instead of the usual barrage of textual abuse I spew into digital ether, I would like your opinions. What's the common colloquialism? "Dear Lazyweb..."

What do you do about / how do you handle cognitive dissonance? Okay, that's not entirely accurate or clear. When something is out of place, when something is going on that you don't like, what do you do about it?

The problem with the question as presented above is that it still is a little vague. I mean, we would (should?) have different responses to large scale things (politics/activism) compared to small/local events. I guess my query is more towards the latter.

Let's give some examples - friends making choices. Now, with things that directly effect you most choices are fairly easy. If your friend wants to cut off your hand for no discernible reason, one's reaction might be to stop them / not let them do so. But as you get further away from the "direct effect" qualifier - how do you act/react up these events?
What if your friend want to cut off someone else's hand? What if they wanted to cut off their own hand? What if they wanted to commit suicide?

[these are purposefully extreme examples.]

Okay, let's throttle it back a bit.

What if they took a course they hated? What if they started hanging out with "the wrong crowd" (in your opinion)?

Now, at some point all actions a friend does effect you, insofar as how much you are invested emotionally in that friend. BUT - how much / at what point does/would your interference adversely affect your friend? (That is, at what point does the cure become worse than the disease?)

Suicide is fairly easy to sort out - they may be briefly resentful... but they're not dead.
What about the other extreme? Say... bad color matching with their wardrobe? Do you tell them that their favorite sweat band they wear ALL the time is horribly ugly and out of fashion?

What about choices they make with relationships? If a friend has a horrible or abusive boyfriend/girlfriend, do you say something to them? What if they're just dick and annoying, and not really that bad - you don't like them, but your friend seems to.

Do you stop spending time with that friend (around their partner)? Do you grin and bear it? Where do you draw the line? What if your friend was =truly= happy with this person? [or, to get away from 'person', substitute 'activity' - say they really like thrash metal and insist on it playing all the time]

What if your actions (against what they liked and you didn't) caused them to avoid something they really liked/wanted? Should you feel guilty? Were they too weak?

Is making an ultimatum okay?
...is just walking away? If we assume that the situation is one where you feel so uncomfortable that something needs to change, which route do you prefer - and why?

Think extremes, fair has little to do here, but doing =right= is what I'm asking. What is the best option(s) in your opinions?

"I'd fuck you, but I wouldn't date you"

I referenced this line recently, by way of Mog's mentioning of it long ago, to make a point. It made me think a little, about /what/ it meant, especially in the realm of fuck buddy vs friend w/ benefits vs casual relationship (etc)

I talked about this ever so briefly before [ http://mexicanjewlizrd.livejournal.com/39201.html ] but not in a way which is relevant to this topic.

a benchmark:
* would you talk after sex? what would you talk about / would you have anything to talk about?

On the new UK sitcom "How Not to Live Your Life", an amusing point was made. If a guy was with a girl, and said to her "you're a bit of a bitch, but I'd still like to shag you anyway. Let's go back to my place." She'd kick his arse from here to tomorrow, and he'd never see her again.
Reverse the roles. If a girl was with a guy, and she said to him "you're a bit of a prick, but I'd still like to shag you anyway. Let's go back to my place." Generally speaking, he'd probably be briefly taken aback, but would then be making out with her / out the door and halfway to her place before she could draw another breath.

I've got a mild beef with double standards, but I get where they come from, so I'm going to leave it alone for this rant.

We make some interesting judgment calls about who we spend time with and why. Look around at your circle of friends & acquaintances. You have workmates - people you get along with, but are only friends because you work together. Drinking buddies - people who are your best mates at a pub - but no-where else. Climbing/cycling partners [or other exercise/sport] - and so on.
But do your (other) friends give you a hard time for having those type of friends? No. But if you have sex with someone just because you want to - you've crossed a line. If you make out with 'some guy' - you're now a slut.

THIS is a double standard I really dislike. It is pervasive through most social lines, including gender lines.

Okay, okay, there IS a difference that I should address. It is easier to become emotionally attached / it is easier for one partner to be mis-informed about the nature of the relationship, than in other (activity) relationships. For example, your climbing partner might be a little miffed at being stood up / having to find someone else to climb with, but it (generally) won't have the same emotional impact/devastation as with a sexual partner.
The solution? Be a fucking adult. Be honest and open at all times. All parties concerned. If one person always has to be the grown up, that's almost just as bad.

So, what are those bitchy, gossipy people really on about? What hurt their sensibilities? I like to think that it is based around protectiveness regarding that last item.

But a crappy double standard is still a crappy double standard.

I guess the problem with (against/towards) the opening statement is its bluntness. I think Chopper Reid said it best: "Harden the fuck up." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unkIVvjZc9Y

To those of who are such a tightarse that you won't let your partner stick a finger in "just to experiment" - to you I say: grow the fuck up.

[In retrospect, part of me hopes that some of my analogies will be understood and not taken at face value. Ah, well.]

Ron and I landed back in Perth this morning. I washed myself and some clothes, and then spent the next 2.5 hours in centrelink. Ugg. Swancon tonight. Nap now. Otherwise, coasting along until after easter.

Reviews:

* Singapore: awesome, great place. Amazing parks, easy to get around, delicious food, no complaints. I could go on and on...

* Melacca: cute, quaint, interesting history (was Malay, then Portuguese, then Dutch, then English, then Malay). Quite inexpensive.

* Kuala Lumpor: where do I begin? Not... good. Some complaints: despite what the people at the airport told me when I was in transit from Japan, there ARE other ways to get into town besides the RM35 train- for example, the RM8 bus. Cabbies will try to rip you off. Tailors are n'air to be seen, anywhere (we found 2 alterers, but no suit makers). Food prices vary randomly, and isn't as tasty as in Singapore. MAPS LIE. Stuff just isn't where it says it is (especially the Mousedeer/Deer park). SIGNS LIE. They point in wrong directions, or the long way around things. Became quite frustrating. Low Yat Plaza is okay, but not great. Sim Lim Square (in .sg) is better, IMO.
Upsides: Town is TINY - quite easy to just walk everywhere. Massages were cheap (RM15 for 30min fish cleaning, RM1/minute for body/feet massages). Variety of food was as good as Singapore, especially for western food (at actually reasonable prices).

With swancon happening, I won't be having a party, but I DO have 4.2L of duty free booze to keep me company ;-) [Smirnoff blue, Beefeater gin, Kahlua, Wild Turkey honey liqueur, Glenfiddich whisky liqueur]

Arrived in Melacca today, walked lots, saw lots, am tired, going to bed. Tomorrow morning, off to KL for 2 days, 1 night, and then back to Perth.

For REAL updates, please stalk me on facebook :-Pt

Arrived safe and sound, though the plane was about 45 mins late. Perth airport is sooo dull!

Singapore, other than the humidity, is pretty good! Ron and I have wandered through Little India, Mustafa Centre (massive 24 hr shopping centre place) and Sim Lim Square (massive 6 story building filled with electronic/computer shops - picked up an 8GB 133x Kingston CF card for $30 for my PDA there)

Food has been nothing but delicious. Wandered into a random indian place for breakfast around 9/9:30am, asked the guy what he recommended, and we got two pancake things with eggs,, and a paper.. pancake thing, with three sides - a dahl, a white spicy thing, and a chili paste/curry thing. Everything was =delicious= and was only $3.25 each! Lunch was spicy pork & rice, with soup, baby fish things, and pickled spicy vegies - $3.90.

Singapore is agreeing with me so far!

My mobile number while here is: +65 9449-8940
Ron is +65 9449-8936

Tomorrow night is my graduation ceremony, the final confirmation that I never have to go back again!
(I have no interest in post-grad stuff, esp in my fields)

For those not familiar, a double degree in Multimedia with a minor in Internet Computing and Media Studies (film & tv stream), with a minor in Creative Arts. And as far as I can tell, I'm just as employable now as I was a year ago :-)

Still unemployed, still slowly destroying my bank account. As such, I thought it would be a good idea to travel.

Going to Singapore and KL for a fortnight with Ron (March 28th to April 9th - getting back just in time for 5 days at Swancon).

Then off to Melbourne from May 24th to 28th, just a quick trip... because I can. My first time in 15 years (not since I lived in Traralgon). Will be traveling with Ric and Clare (of the Edwards variety).

With Melb in mind, I am open to recommendations of places to go, shop, things to see and do - and people to catch up with! I apparently have some 3rd cousins I should get in touch with...

On Tuesday, March 10th, at approximately 5:00pm, my guinea pig Wirt passed on.

The believed cause was gastrointestinal bloat/impaction, the exact cause of which is unknown.

My biggest thanks to Bonny for coming over and being with me tonight (and getting me to eat something). Wirt was buried at 9:00pm in our yard, in a small ceremony with just Bonny and I, where I said simply "Goodbye, Wirt."

I am planning on having a Matzevah (unveiling of the tombstone) in a week, after what I suppose is my Shiva (seven days of mourning). Those who knew him are welcome to attend. Attendees are welcome to say a few words, and to leave a pebble on his grave.

It's been a while since I wrote a rant, but there was something which just set me off not so long ago...

I was reading an article about male vs female drivers, and insurance premiums and accident rates. I'll come back to the last in a second. It was one of the comments which got my goat.

"Janet", 52, said that the reason she "drives the speedlimit, even though other drivers might overtake her angerly, and her son gets frustrated is because she would rather be late than get a speeding fine."

Wow. The sheer stupidity stuns me. Okay, maybe it's a quote just for the magazine, and maybe I shouldn't take it as more than it is. But it is indicative of sheep mentality, and a good dose of old fashioned... aaanyway, if you're in the back wondering what I'm going on about, let me bring you up to speed.


A _good_ answer or quote would be "I don't drive fast because I like to be safe." That's =reasonable=. But it has nothing to do with safety for her.

Fines. She is concerned more with having to pay money, than say, getting into an accident.

Speedlimits. They are set by laws, legislation, politics. Rarely by statistics or common sense, and more often at pleasing the constituents come election time. I have a speedlimit rant, which I'll get to in a bit.

And here is what pisses me off. It is a religious argument. You don't hear the simularity? Let me help. "I don't eat shellfish, because the bible says they're unclean." Go on, pick anything. Item equals bad, so your soul gets 'fined'. No REAL punishment or consequence to your actions.

Where was I? My mind sometimes wanders.
...

It's the fake, man-made constructs that strike fear into their hearts more than common sense. That scares me a little.

I've heard many "christians" not understand how non-christians/the non-religious people could know what to do / how to act "good" without the bible (partly because they think the only way one can get / have any moral compass is to believe what they do, and no variation thereof).

To draw the parallel - this woman driver doesn't know what do (what speed to travel at) without a book (legistation, street sign) telling her what to do. No self judgment at all.

THAT is what scares me about other people.

====

I think the statistic was something like 80% of men and 77% of women have been in an accident. (actually, in retrospect, I think the gap was higher, I apologise for the inaccuracy) What bothered me was the number of people who simply think/say "The statistics speak for themselves / don't lie".

There was no information about:
* if that was overall, or per capita of gender
* are there more men driving than women
* are there more younger men driving than younger women

The latter seems true to me.
Coupled with the statistic that younger drivers are more likely to be involved in a crash, it only seems natural that more men will be involved in accidents than women - because there simplier are more of them.

"In 1995, 79% of women aged 17 years or over had driving or motor cycle licences compared to 96% of men, and, for every kilometre driven in cars by women, men drove 1.5 kilometers." http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/1998/Gender_Fem_5.aspx

There we go. More men drive, and the men that do drive drive more than women, meaning they are on the road more, meaning they are more likely to be involved in an accident. This has little to do with gender comparisons, and this kind of statistical genderfucking of numbers pisses me off.

(by the by, this rant was about the presentation of statistics, not about road tolls. http://www.drdriving.org/articles/gender.htm )

Next week, assuming I'm unemployed - who wants to be a tourist with me?

There are a bunch of touristy things to do in Perth, and I should do them. With company.

On my list:
* The Old Mill Museum
* Perth Museum
* Perth Art Gallery
* WA Medical Museum
* Perth Mint
* Aviation Museum
* Fremantle History Museum
* Fremantle Arts Centre
* Fremantle Prison (tour)
* Perth Holiday & Travel Expo [Feb 13th-15th]
* WA Maritime Museum
* Fremantle Outdoor Film Festival [Feb 1st-Mar 1st, prefer Wed]
* Morish Nuts

Not on my list:
* Zoo
* Shipwrecks Museum
* Kings Park
* Scitech
(just stuff I've done many times before)

This isn't a "oh, we'll meet up in the afternoon, do one thing, and go home." I'm going to push to see as much as possible in as short a time as possible; so several things a day. We'll start in the morning, eat out, finish in the evening. Probably do this for about 3-4 days, if I can.

So, who is interested in joining me?

I'm having problems creating plans or goals at this moment, and I have no idea what I'll be doing the week after this.

I realise its been a while since I've posted, and a bit has happened since last.

* Got back from Japan. Some hard decisions were made over there, which were ultimately for the best. (Sorry for the vagueness, but suffice to say it was just "a trip"). Japan is very cool, but moderately overrated [mostly by all those otaku fanbois and grrls I seem to hang around :-P ] I will say this - Japan is simply /gorgeous/ in autumn. Quite comparable to new england or Vancouver.

* Finished uni - got my results while I was waiting in the airport in KL. I got 67% on my final unit, a unit a completely phoned in. I did about a pass/credit for 2nd yr unit's worth of work for a 3rd year final-ever unit, and I got a credit for it. I'm not complaining, just a little stunned. My essay was shite, my work was average, and the website was minimal. And I'll never have to go back again!

* My current job for the past 3-4 months is ending, and I'm a little disappointed. Stupid Liberal government. They took ma jerb! This week is my last week.

So, I'm not sure what happens next. The usual job shuffle, I guess. Been applying around a bit... but, eh. What other job would let you read "Bluesnews.com" as legitimate work research on a regular basis? :-)

So what next? One suggestion has been to travel again. I'm sure to where. I'm toying with doing a loop from perth to port headland -> darwin -> alice springs -> leonora -> kalgoorlie -> perth, which is about 9,000km. But I'm not sure if I have the time, money or inclination. Plus, I really need to spend a lot of money on my car in basic maintenance first... which I guess I should do regardless.
I've been thinking about going to Singapore, and then backpacking my way up the Malay peninsula to the north-west hills of Thailand, then east to Bangkok (and then fly back to Perth)... but later this year.
Been meaning to get back to Bali, but that's more of a R&R thing, and I don't need that - I need drive and direction.

I should probably get off my arse and read more of "What Color is Your Parachute". [hrm, can't seem to find my copy. Did I lend it to someone?]

Photography? I dunno. I =need= to get off my arse about that. I promised myself and a homeless guy in Monterey I would. We'll see what happens.

Look, I'm sure I'll sort something out. I'm confident and optimistic about my future; I have no reason not to be. It's just right now, it feels like my whole life is in limbo while I try to work out how to work out what I'm going to do next.

As I wrote in my private (offline) journal at one point: I need a new quest.

---

For those wondering about why I haven't mentioned the women in my (recent) life - Karlee, Emily, Hope - sorry, not going to happen here, in this way. I've spoken to people in private and in person, but I don't feel comfortable talking directly about other people in this public forum.

Things that are awesome #143:

Being in an outdoor onsen.

Things that are awesome #144:

Being in an outdoor onsen, when it is lightly raining.

Things that are awesome #145:

Being in an outdoor onsen, when it starts to lightly snow.
-------------------------------------
Koyasan is a beautiful place.

[currently in Nagasaki]